A planar suspended ceiling system and a method for installing the ceiling system

ABSTRACT

The inventive concept relates to a planar suspended ceiling system comprising: a ceiling tile ( 10 ) having a front side ( 1 ), a rear side ( 2 ) and at least one side edge extending between the front side ( 1 ) and the rear side ( 2 ), the ceiling tile ( 10 ) comprising an acoustical absorbing body ( 4 ), and a front cover ( 3 ) arranged at the front side ( 1 ) of the ceiling tile ( 10 ); wherein a slit ( 5 ) is provided extending across the entire rear side ( 2 ) of the acoustical absorbing body ( 4 ) thereby dividing said acoustical absorbing body ( 4 ) into a first and a second body section ( 4   a,    4   b ), and having a depth such that the ceiling tile ( 10 ) is foldable along the slit ( 5 ) with the front cover ( 3 ) acting as a joint; wherein opposing portions of the at least one side edge are provided with each a groove ( 6 ) and; a grid of profiles ( 11 ) for supporting said ceiling tile ( 10 ) in a planar, non-folded state in which flanges ( 7 ) of the grid of profiles ( 11 ) extend into the grooves ( 6 ) thereby supporting the ceiling tile ( 10 ).

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a planar suspended ceiling system and amethod for installing such a suspended ceiling system. The inventionmore specifically relates to such a suspended ceiling system comprisingfoldable ceiling tiles.

BACKGROUND ART

Suspended ceilings are well known and may serve a variety of purposes.One purpose may be to provide sound absorption or other insulation inand outside of a room. Typically, a suspended ceiling system comprises agrid of profiles supporting a plurality of ceiling tiles arranged inframes formed by the grid of profiles.

Ceiling tiles are normally provided with groove arrangements adapted toreceive flanges of the grid of profiles. Present grove arrangementstypically allow lifting and lateral displacement of ceiling tiles.Typical ceiling systems may provide concealed mounting, i.e. the groovearrangements of the ceiling tiles being such arranged that the grid ofprofiles become concealed. These ceiling systems may be complex toinstall and the edges of the ceiling tiles may be fragile and thuseasily harmed during handling. Also disassembly of an installedsuspended ceiling system may be cumbersome requiring carefulmanipulation of each ceiling tile for enabling dismounting.

In US2011146183 a foldable ceiling tile for providing an inclination ofa ceiling tile is disclosed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of that stated above, the object of the present invention is toprovide a suspended ceiling system that reduces the possibility ofweakened side edges.

Another object is to provide a suspended ceiling system reducingcomplexity of mounting and/or dismounting ceiling tiles.

To achieve at least one of these objects and also other objects thatwill be evident from the following description a suspended ceilingsystem having the features defined in claim 1 and a method forinstallation of a suspended ceiling system having the features definedin claim 7 are provided according to the present invention. Preferredembodiments of the suspended ceiling system and the method will beevident from the dependent claims.

According to a first aspect of the present inventive concept, there isprovided a planar suspended ceiling system comprising a ceiling tilehaving a front side, a rear side and at least one side edge extendingbetween the front side and the rear side, the ceiling tile comprising anacoustical absorbing body, and a front cover arranged at the front sideof the ceiling tile,

wherein a slit is provided extending across the entire rear side of theacoustical absorbing body thereby dividing said acoustical absorbingbody into a first and a second body section, and having a depth suchthat the ceiling tile is foldable along the slit with the front coveracting as a joint,

wherein opposing portions of the at least one side edge are providedwith each a groove and,

a grid of profiles supporting said ceiling tile in a planar, non-foldedstate in which flanges of the grid of profiles extend into the groovesthereby supporting the ceiling tile.

The suspended ceiling system thus comprises a foldable ceiling tilewhich reduces the complexity of installing the ceiling system.Complexity of mounting is reduced by the system being installablewithout additional tools. The mounting is performed with a simple act ofunfolding the folded ceiling tile into its position in the grid ofprofiles. Hence the proposed ceiling system will allow for a simplemounting of ceiling tiles. It follows that the disassemble of theceiling system is of the same simple character. The grooves at theopposing portions of the at least one side edge may be formed by asingle elongated recess. Thereby the cost and time for manufacturing ofthe ceiling tiles may be reduced.

A possible embodiment of the concept is that the ceiling tile maycomprise a compressed fiber material such as glass wool. The compressedfiber material may enhance the acoustical insulation or absorptioncapacity of the ceiling tile. Further, compressed fiber material mayenable a variety of proportions of the ceiling tiles due to the weightof the material.

The grid of profiles of the planar ceiling system may have an invertedT-shape, thus enabling the use of present commonly used grid of profilesfor mounting ceiling tiles. Hence the manufacturing process may besimplified.

Another possible embodiment of the system is that the front cover maycomprise a woven or nonwoven glass fiber fabric. Glass fiber fabric mayprovide the ceiling system with sturdiness and may expand the life-spanof the ceiling system. The use of a glass fabric may enable the ceilingtiles to be folded and unfolded without leaving visible tracks of theslits in the installed ceiling.

The ceiling tiles may further be comprised such that the front cover isglued to the acoustical absorbing body. By using glue to attach thefront cover to the acoustical body, the manufacturing process may betime reduced. Previously used manufacturing processes may further beused since glue is a common method for attachment.

To avoid visibility of the grid of profiles in an installed ceiling, thegrooves of the ceiling tile may be configured to conceal the gridprofiles in the planar non-folded state of the ceiling tile, therebyenabling concealed mounting.

According to a second aspect of the inventive concept, there is provideda method for installation of a suspended ceiling system comprising aceiling tile having a front side, a rear side and at least one side edgeextending between the front side and the rear side, and a grid ofprofiles comprising flanges for supporting the ceiling tile, the ceilingtile comprising an acoustical absorbing body, and a front cover arrangedat the front side of the ceiling tile, wherein a slit is providedextending across the entire rear side of the acoustical absorbing bodythereby dividing said acoustical body into a first and a second bodysection, and having a depth such that the ceiling tile is foldable alongthe slit with the front cover acting as a joint, wherein opposingportions of the at least one side edge are provided with each a groove,the method comprising:

installing the grid of profiles in a room of a building,

mounting the ceiling tile in the grid of profiles by

arranging the ceiling tile in a folded state by folding the ceiling tilealong the slit with the front cover acting as a joint,

directing an apex of the folded ceiling tile in an upward direction,

advancing the folded ceiling tile from below to position in which thegroves are aligned with an opposing pair of flanges of the grid ofprofiles, and

straightening the folded ceiling tile to a planar, non-folded state suchthat the flanges are received by the grooves of the ceiling tile.

The foldable ceiling tile may be mounted without additional tools, thusreducing the complexity of mounting the ceiling tile into the grid ofprofiles.

The ceiling tile may be displaced and moved around with a reduced riskof weakening the side edges.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above, as well as additional objects, features and advantages of thepresent invention, will be better understood through the followingillustrative and non-limiting detailed description of preferredembodiments of the present invention, with reference to the appendeddrawings, where the same reference numerals will be used for similarelements, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a suspended ceiling system.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of a section of a suspended ceilingsystem comprising a ceiling tile in a non-folded planar state.

FIG. 3 is a schematic side view of a section of a suspended ceilingsystem during mounting of a ceiling tile.

FIG. 4a-e are schematic side views of different embodiments of ceilingtiles.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which currently preferredembodiments of the invention are shown. It is to be understood that thepresented figures are to illustrate a close view of an example of theinventive concept. The figures are not designed to any certain scale,and any other proportions than disclosed in the drawings will be obviousto the skilled person. This invention may, however, be embodied in manydifferent forms and should not be construed as limited to theembodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided forthoroughness and completeness, and fully convey the scope of theinvention to the skilled person.

FIG. 1 illustrates mounted ceiling tiles 10 in a grid of profiles 11.The grid of profiles 11 comprises main runners 12 and cross girders 13having a U-shaped cross section. The grid of profiles 11 is suspendedfrom a building structure by suspension means (not shown). The mainrunners 12 have flanges 7 for providing support to the ceiling tiles 10.The main runners 12 may have an inverted T-shape. The main runners 12are arranged such that a ceiling tile 10 fits, in a planar, non-foldedstate, in the space defined between two adjacent main runners 12. Eachcross girder 13 is provided with spaced apart slots enabling mounting ofthe cross girder 13 on top of, and thus at an elevated level, mainrunners extending in parallel. The cross girders 13 thus providerigidity to the grid of profiles 11 and assure the main runners 12 arespaced apart in a fixed manner while at the same time not occupying thespace defined between each pair of adjacent main runners 12.

FIG. 2 illustrates a ceiling tile 10 mounted in the space definedbetween two main runners 12 of a grid of profiles 11. The ceiling tile10 has a front side 1 intended to face the interior of a room and a rearside 2, and at least one side edge extending between the front side 1and the rear side 2. In the shown embodiment, the ceiling tile 10comprises four side edges. It is to be noted that the ceiling tile 10may have different shapes.

By way of example, the ceiling tile 10 may have a round or oval shape,and in such an embodiment, the ceiling tile 10 comprises one side edgeextending around the whole ceiling tile 10. Such a ceiling tile 10 maybe provided with two opposing portions, where each opposing portion ofthe ceiling tile 10 comprises a groove 6 for reception of a flange. Insuch an embodiment, each opposing portion is associated with the samesingle side edge extending around the ceiling tile 10.

The ceiling tile 10 comprises a front cover 3 and an acousticalabsorbing body 4.

The front cover 3 is arranged at the front side 1 of the ceiling tile10.

The front cover 3 may be arranged to the acoustical absorbing body 4with attaching means, such as glue.

The front cover 3 comprises a material that is foldable and may comprisea woven or nonwoven glass fiber fabric.

The acoustical absorbing body 4 may comprise a compressed fiber materialsuch as glass wool. It is to be understood that the acoustical absorbingbody 4 may comprise other materials.

The acoustical absorbing body 4 is provided with a slit 5. The slit 5extends across the entire rear side 2 of the ceiling tile 1. The slit 5thus divides the acoustical absorbing body 4 into a first and secondbody section 4 a, 4 b. The slit 5 has a depth such that the ceiling tile10 is foldable along the slit 5 with the front cover 3 acting as a jointbetween the first and second body section 4 a, 4 b.

Opposing portions of the at least one side edge of the ceiling tile 10are provided with each a groove 6. As mentioned above, the shownembodiment of the ceiling tile 10 comprises four side edges, and in thiscase the opposing portions of the at least one side edge are representedby a first side edge and an opposing second side edge.

Each groove 6 is configured such that the flange 7 of a profile extendsinto or is received by the groove 6 when the ceiling tile 10 is mounted.Each groove 6 may be configured as a single elongated recess. Further itis to be understood that the grooves 6 may be configured differently. Itis also to be understood that the groove 6 may be configured to restrictany substantial lifting or lateral displacement of the ceiling tile 10.

The groove 6 may further be configured such that when mounting theceiling tiles 10, the grid of profiles 11 may become concealed.

In the planar non-folded state of the ceiling tile 10, the flanges 7 ofthe grid of profiles extend into the grooves 6 thereby providing supportfor the ceiling tile 10.

The provision of a groove 6 extending along the side edge of the ceilingtile 10 results in the formation of an upper and a lower lip definingthe groove 6. In the mounted, planar state of the ceiling tile 10, theupper lip will be positioned above, and the lower lip will be positionedbelow the flange 7 of the main runner 12. As evident from FIG. 2, thelower lip may be given such an extension that the distal end of thelower lip is positioned approximately below a web portion of the mainrunner 12. The distal end of the lower lip of an adjacent ceiling tilewill thus be positioned in close proximity to the distal end of thelower lip of ceiling tile 10, and thus the main runner 12 will not bevisible from below thereby enabling concealment of the grid of profilesalso referred to as concealed mounting.

When in the planar non-folded state, a stopper may be arranged in theslit 5, thus defining the non-folded state of the ceiling tile 10 in themounted non-folded position such that sagging is counteracted, whichwill be described below more in detail.

FIG. 3 illustrates the process of mounting the ceiling tile 10 in thegrid of profiles. The process is started by arranging the ceiling tile10 in a folded state. When folding the ceiling tile 10 along the slit 5,the front cover 3 acts as a joint.

To mount the ceiling tile 10 into the grid of profiles 11, an apex ofthe folded ceiling tile 10 is to be in an upward direction and then thefolded ceiling tile 10 is advanced from below into the space definedbetween two adjacent main runners 12 of the grid of profiles. The foldedceiling tile 10 is advanced to a position in which the groves 6 arealigned with the opposing pair of flanges 7 of the grid of profiles 11.Subsequently, the ceiling tile is unfolded or flattened, thus allowingthe flanges 7 to be received by and to extend into the grooves 6 of theceiling tile 10. When straightening the folded ceiling tile 10 to theplanar state, the flanges 7 consequently extend into correspondinggrooves 6 thereby enabling the grid of profiles to support the ceilingtile 10.

The ceiling tiles 10 may be dismounted or removed in a reversedprocedure to the installing. To remove a ceiling tile 10, the part ofthe ceiling tile 10 comprising the slit 5 may be pressed in an upwarddirection, causing the ceiling tile 10 to fold along the slit 5 with thefront cover acting as a joint. As a consequence, the flanges of the gridof profiles will be retracted from the grooves and the ceiling tile willbecome disengaged. By maintaining the ceiling tile 10 in a folded state,the ceiling tile may be removed by movement in a downward direction fromthe grid of profiles 11.

The slit 5 extends in a straight extension across the entire rearsurface of the ceiling tile 10 and has a depth which essentiallycorresponds to the thickness of the acoustical absorbing body 4 suchthat the ceiling tile 10 foldable with the front cover acting as ajoint. The slit 5 may be configured in many different ways asillustrated in FIGS. 4a -e.

For instance, the slit 5 may, as illustrated in FIG. 4a , be a simpleelongated cut having no essential width.

Alternatively, the slit 5 may be formed as an elongated recess, asillustrated in FIGS. 4b and 4d , having a certain width. Such a slit 5may for instance be formed by a sawing or milling operation. The slit 5formed as a recess thus provides a gap 5 b spanning between the firstand second body section 4 a, 4 b of the acoustical absorbing body 4.

The recess may as shown in FIGS. 4b and 4d have a rectangular or atriangular cross section, respectively. A rectangular cross section willresult in a more undefined joint axis, which may counteract formationfolding marks or tracks in the front cover. On the other hand, atriangular cross section results in a well-defined folding axis, whichmay promote controlled folding of the ceiling tile.

According to another embodiment, a stopper 5 a may be arranged in theslit as shown if FIGS. 4c and 4 e.

The stopper 5 a is arranged to clearly define the non-folded state ofthe ceiling tile 10 and to prevent sagging in said non-folded state.

The stopper 5 a may further be arranged to act as a biasing element andmay in this case for instance be formed as a spring element. Hereby, therisk for sagging may be further reduced.

It will be appreciated that the present invention is not limited to theembodiments shown. Several modifications and variations are thusconceivable within the scope of the invention which thus is exclusivelydefined by the appended claims.

1. A planar suspended ceiling system comprising: a ceiling tile (10)having a front side (1), a rear side (2) and at least one side edgeextending between the front side (1) and the rear side (2), the ceilingtile (10) comprising an acoustical absorbing body (4), and a front cover(3) arranged at the front side (1) of the ceiling tile (10), wherein aslit (5) is provided extending across the entire rear side (2) of theacoustical absorbing body (4) thereby dividing said acoustical absorbingbody (4) into a first and a second body section (4 a, 4 b), and having adepth such that the ceiling tile (10) is foldable along the slit (5)with the front cover (3) acting as a joint, wherein opposing portions ofthe at least one side edge are provided with each a groove (6) and, agrid of profiles (11) supporting said ceiling tile (10) in a planarnon-folded state in which flanges (7) of the grid of profiles (11)extend into the grooves (6) thereby supporting the ceiling tile (10). 2.A system according to claim 1 wherein the ceiling tile (10) comprises acompressed fiber material such as glass wool.
 3. A system according toclaim 1 wherein the grid of profiles (11) have an inverted T-shape.
 4. Asystem according to claim 1 wherein the front cover (3) comprises awoven or nonwoven glass fiber fabric.
 5. A system according to claim 1wherein the front cover (3) is glued to the acoustical absorbing body(4).
 6. A system according to claim 1 wherein the grooves (6) of theceiling tile (10) are configured to conceal the grid of profiles (11) inthe planar non-folded state of the ceiling tile (10), thereby enablingconcealed mounting.
 7. A method for installation of a suspended ceilingsystem comprising: a ceiling tile (10) having a front side (1), a rearside (2) and at least one side edge extending between the front side (1)and the rear side (2), and a grid of profiles (11) comprising flanges(7) for supporting the ceiling tile (10), the ceiling tile (10)comprising an acoustical absorbing body (4), and a front cover (3)arranged at the front side (1) of the ceiling tile (10), wherein a slit(5) is provided extending across the entire rear side (2) of theacoustical absorbing body (4) thereby dividing said acoustical body (4)into a first and a second body section (4 a, 4 b), and having a depthsuch that the ceiling tile (10) is foldable along the slit (5) with thefront cover (3) acting as a joint, wherein opposing portions of the atleast one side edge are provided with each a groove (6), the methodcomprising: installing the grid of profiles (11) in a room of abuilding, mounting the ceiling tile (10) in the grid of profiles (11) byarranging the ceiling tile (10) in a folded state by folding the ceilingtile (10) along the slit (5) with the front cover (3) acting as a joint,directing an apex of the folded ceiling tile (10) in an upwarddirection, advancing the folded ceiling tile (10) from below to positionin which the groves (6) are aligned with an opposing pair of flanges (7)of the grid of profiles (11), and straightening the folded ceiling tile(10) to a planar, non-folded state such that the flanges (7) arereceived by the grooves (6).